Day 4:Christian Casale

Good evening everyone,

I am 3/C Christian Casale from the IMB program at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. My hometown is Marshfield, Massachusetts.

Today we traveled to Bangkok and had some amazing experiences throughout the day. We first arrived at Port Authority of Thailand ( PAT ) where we learned about the container terminal operations in the port of Bangkok and the technological innovations. After that I got the opportunity to use the container terminal operations simulator. Here you are put into a chair with many controls and buttons which you need to use in order to remove and place TEUs off of a container ship. When you sit down you have a screen in front of you and beneath your feet just as if you were operating a real crane in the port. Every employee needs to operate 150 mistake free hours in the simulator before being given the opportunity to get their hands on the real machinery. After this we got a tour of a dredger. The crew was extremely enthusiastic to have us on board and I felt very welcomed. This is a common theme in Thailand.

Once this was done we drove off to a little mall with countless food options and many gift shops. McDonald’s has a different variety of menu options based on what country you are located in. I tried various items on the menu that I didn’t know existed and on top of that the prices were very affordable. After that I walked around the shops and it’s very interesting to see the American clothing that is sold in Thailand. All of the shop vendors seemed very friendly and despite speaking a different language, they were very easy to communicate with.

After lunch, we got back in the vans and went off to the maritime safety and surveillance operation center. We were brought upstairs and given a lecture on the history of the Thailand maritime industry and maritime safety management. We were shown the security footage and behind the scenes details as to how much goes into the safety and precautions of ships visiting the port. Seeing the real time traffic maps and security intricacies was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I personally liked the simulator the most because it was the most hands-on activity of the day and I got to see how difficult that process really was.

While driving through the city I noticed that drivers are much more aggressive and get very close to each other compared to America. The street vendors are also found on every single corner and road selling all kinds of tools, foods, drinks, clothes etc. Today was the biggest step so far in experiencing a new culture and understanding the rules and safety precautions used here in Thailand. They were curious to learn about our maritime safety precautions and port management. This led to a very engaging conversation from both sides!

Throughout the day we saw many new sights and I can’t wait to see what awaits us in the coming weeks!